This is a cross between a mild chili and a soup. It is great for a food storage recipe as you can leave out the hamburger.

1 or 2 lbs ground beef
2 onions, chopped
2 cans pinto beans (15 oz each), drained
1 can kidney beans (15 oz), drained
1 can corn (15 oz), drained
1 can stewed tomatoes (15 oz)
2 cans tomatoes with chiles (15 oz)
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 pkg ranch salad dressing mix

Brown beef and onions in skillet. Drain excess oil. Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes. Serve with sour cream, chips, avocados, grated cheese etc.

This is a recipe I found I think in high school. Although kids gripe when I make it, Jeremy and I enjoy it so we over-rode their decision to not keep this recipe. It really only works in the summer time when your vegetables are fresh but it is one of my favorite ways to eat zucchini. I will serve leftovers on top of lettuce as a salad or just eat it plain.

Dear Friends and family,

This recipe has come to me through different friends but it originated with my neighbor Bonnie. These are not baked beans but more of a heartier version, almost a meal in itself. And it has lima beans in it which is Allison, our pickiest kid's favorite bean, go figure.

Dear Friends and Family,

My yard is weed free, dishes mysteriously disappear and reappear washed, and kids have smiles on their faces. My parents must be in town! My parents came Thursday night to visit for a few days. We haven't done much besides just enjoying being together and catching up. Yesterday afternoon though we spent a few hours up in Provo canyon hiking to Stuart Falls. Its a 4 mile hike that is very kid friendly, right above Sundance. It was beautiful. Robyn reached her breaking point when we had to clean the office afterward but since she hiked the whole thing by herself, I can't complain that she needed to go to bed afterward! Those tiny figures up on that cliff are Jeremy, Spencer and Allison and my dad. I was praying hard. Jeremy is the only reason our kids aren't being raised as wimps. Before my parents came we ended up with a busier than planned week. A week ago our FHE activity was to pile all our furniture in our kitchen and hallway so we could have our carpets cleaned. It has been 6 years of dog and kid accidents. I was very excited to get all those smells out of our carpet! Plus we found several "lost" library books and toys. All those times I asked kids to put things away and they ended up stuffed under furniture or in couch cushions! Tuesday, Robyn, Taylor and I went up to neurology in the morning to finally ask about Taylor and what we could change for better seizure control. I figured we had four hours to go up for our 30 minute appointment and get back for carpets and to take the kids to the movies for the afternoon. But best laid plans and all... The neurology staff was as concerned as I was about Taylor and immediately admitted him to the hospital. He was having a bad couple of days again where he was doing those partial complex seizures constantly where his eyes are rolled up and fixed. So Robyn got to hang out with us in the neurotrauma unit for the day. I take for granted how our kids know that sometimes they just have to sit and wait at hospitals but I really appreciated that for a 4 year old she was amazingly good. I was able to run home that night to take Robyn home but it was a long day for her.

Taylor spent 2 days at Primary's hooked up to an EEG and video feed. They x-rayed his lungs because they sounded bad and they were worried about aspiration plus his cold hands kept fooling the machines into thinking his oxygen levels were going into the 70s. A lot of worried nurses/doctors till they figured out his bad circulation. Turns out his left lung is just a bit squished from his scoliosis. Not enough to be worried about yet, but enough to be audible to anyone with a stethoscope. They were a bit concerned that his seizures were really one long seizure which is much worse. But it turned out he was just having nonstop seizures. So they knocked him out with adavan which put him out for a few hours and stopped the cycle. Bad couple of days but after a day or two of rest he is back to normal and the bad seizures have calmed way down. The adavan stopped the cycle and then we are changing up his meds a bit to help with the long term problem.

When he was knocked out I ran home. Jeremy had left work to work at home for kids and carpet cleaning guy. So instead of a night at the movies, kids spent it squeezing around furniture and trying to stay off the carpet. Not the best timing but at least now our carpet is cleaned. Jeremy puts up with a lot sometimes and friends step in for carpool and childcare so often for us.

Then for Labor day weekend we went camping Friday through Monday down at Palisades by Manti. There is a lot of prep work before but the beauty of it is that we get there and literally do nothing. Kids ran around on their bikes a lot. Jeremy brought out his camera at night for shooting stars and bats. We spend hours laying by the lake on the grass making friendship bracelets, playing board games, reading books and climbing trees. There is a trail around the lake that the kids and I did a few times. Allison picked our dutch oven experiment for the weekend and we made dutch oven lasagna. As she put it, "its not as good as homemade but its good for camping food". Spencer and Allison set up a queen air mattress in the back of the truck and slept outside looking at the amazing star display overhead. So our trailer was nice and quiet and they felt very grown up and special. We have never camped on a Sunday before and it was fun to attend this old timer farmer ward. Then we came back to clean everything up and go to a BBQ with our neighbors. It was a great weekend and hard to get back to reality and school.

And so life goes. Some hectic moments but mostly we are just very lucky at the support we have all around us. I have been cleaning up our yard this week. It had been a while. We took out 2 dead trees and planted a new apricot and a paper bark maple. I am hoping I won't kill them off. Love to you all, Heather

We picked apples this weekend. The apple cake is from our Taste Kitchen cookbook and the sauce is from my neighbor Raquel. I can and have just eaten this caramel sauce with a spoon.

Apple Cake

3 c flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 c sugar
1 1/3 c vegetable oil
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 apples (granny smith preferred), peeled, cored and chopped up into 1/4 inch pieces
1 c (4 oz) chopped walnuts

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 16 cup tube or bundt pan.
2. Beat the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla together till thick and glossy, about 2 minutes. On low speed stir in the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. When all the dry ingredients are incorporated stir in the apples and nuts.
3. Scrape the batter into pan and smooth the top. Tap the pan gently on the counter to settle the batter. Bake the cake 50-60 minutes until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached.
4. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a small knife around the edge of the cake to loosen, then flip it out onto a wire rack. Turn the cake right side up and let it cool completely, about 2 hours. Serve with Caramel sauce or drizzle all over the cake before serving.

Caramel Sauce

1 c butter
1 c corn syrup or karo
2 c brown sugar

1. In a medium sized pan stir these ingredients over medium high heat until it comes to a boil. Stir constantly and boil for 6 minutes.
2. Remove mixture from heat and stir in 1 cup sweetened condensed milk and 1/3 c evaporated milk.
3. Let cool.

This recipe is from my neighbor Elaine. Perfect for cold evenings it is definitely not a healthy soup but one everyone likes (except for Allison, no surprise there).

Broccoli Cheese Soup - Makes 6 servings

1 c chopped onion
1 c finely diced celery
1 bunch broccoli, cut into pieces (about 3 cups)
1/2 c flour
1 pint half and half
1 pint milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
8 oz cheese whiz
3/4 c butter

Barely cover vegetables with water and bring to boil. Simmer 20 minutes or until tender. In another large pan, melt butter and stir in flour. Boil one minute stirring constantly. Stir in milk, half and half and cook until smooth. Bring to a boil and stir well. Add undrained vegetables and cheese whiz. Stir until blended but do not let it come to a boil again.